6.28.2008

Back to Soggy-Springfield


We got to meet the Setliffe's!!! Rachel, Matt and little Ava! They are also adopting from Ethiopia (America World Adoption Assoc), which is how we officially crossed paths.


On Monday afternoon, Vince & I had the opportunity to steal away from our conference for a quick trip to Tampa's Ybor City. We met the Setliffe's at a wonderful Cuban restaurant they recommended, The Columbia. Rachel is a stay-at-home mom and Matt works with Innovative Mission Opportunities, an agency dedicated to the 10/40 Window. They are truly an amazing family, completed devoted to Jesus!

Please pray for this sweet couple...the next couple of weeks will be quite stressful (family illness and Matt's travels).


The Singles Metro Conference we attended was outstanding...we gained a wealth of knowledge, and developed many friendships that I know we'll treasure over the years to come!!

6.19.2008

Attention Adoptive Families

For those of you who considering adoption, a friend of ours who works for an adoption agency has a healthy sibling group from Haiti that she is seeking to place with their forever-family. The children are 6 (boy), 4 (boy) and 6 (girl) months. If you'd like more info, you can email me @ alisafmartin@yahoo.com.

6.17.2008

What's new with us...

Sorry, I've not been quite as 'bloggy' since I started my new job, but I'll try to catch you up to speed...should take about 45 seconds, since our life is so exciting! ha ha

Our conference call with our agency last week went well. Two new topics of interest are that 1) AWAA has partnered with with an additional orphanage in Ethiopia, 2) and there is potential legislation is Ethiopia that could affect non-prof agencies operating within Ethiopia (ie- orphanages). The legislation would be bitter-sweet. While being pro-child welfare in nature, it would also penalize organizations (ie- orphanages) who receive a bulk of their support from international entities.

Our trip to KC to update our fingerprints was successful...well, I think. We will receive an updated I-171H immigration document as confirmation. I will definitely be on the look-out for this document because I received an email last week from an individual actually in China completing her adoption -- she was delayed returning to the US because she had NOT received her update fingerprint approval...yikes.

And, thanks to the oh-so-unpredictable weather here in the Ozarks, we have to replace the siding on the back of our house....ugh!! Sunday afternoon, a storm blew in - but instead of a gentle rain, the clouds pitched hail through our siding. I must admit, I briefly had an ice-storm flash back...the ground was covered with ice. But it thawed quickly...thank goodness!

Finally, we are looking forward to a trip to Fla -- we'll visit family, and attend a ministry conference. We'll also get meet the Setliff's -- fellow-Ethiopia adopters (you can check out their blog on my list). We're ready for the r&r and the opportunity to connect with/meet some new friends!!

6.09.2008

Together, At Last!

The following families are in Ethiopia right now...below you can see and read about their very first moments with their newest family members!!!

The Kidds
The Cordells
The Wests
The Gardners
The Shaetz Family (blog not available)

Tomorrow, our agency is hosting a conference call with the 90+ families who are waiting for referrals (I think we may be in the top 30). They will give us an over-all update for all waiting families, share updates on progress in Ethiopia (orphanages, court proceedings...) and also answer our one-millions questions.

Thursday, we head to Kansas City (again) to update our fingerprints with the USCIS/Dept of Homeland Security (our current prints will expire in July).

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